Urinal



April 11, 1950 o. w. MASON 2,503,284

URINAL Filed April 11, 1946 IIVVENTOR.

01am WMJON,

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 11, 1950 URINAL Owen W. Mason, Greentown, Ind.; Renzie Mason, administrator, de bonis non, of said Owen W. Mason, deceased, assignor to Anna Hill and James Hill, Greentown, Ind.

Application April 11, 1946, Serial No. 661,288

8 Claims.

The object of the present invention is to provide a urinal especially adapted for the accommodation of a male patient suffering from urinal incontinence. Such a patient must spend most of his time in a prone position, and previouslyknown bed urinals are impossibly uncomfortable, either because they are made of hard materials or because the patients urino-genital organs hang uncomfortably within the urinal. Even when using a bed urinal of the type which is intended to drain continuously, there are many occasions when the patients parts lie in liquid; and furthermore, such a device frequently creates, or is positioned in, a hollow or depression in the mattress, so that drainage is inhibited or prevented, and liquid will rise in the chamber of the urinal, sometimes overflowing onto the bed.

Among the objects of the present invention, then, are the provision of a bed urinal so constructed that the patients parts are kept dry at all times, the provision of means, in such a device, for insuring against inhibition of drainage, the provision of an elevated false floor in the urinal chamber to support the patients parts above the drainage outlet from the chamber, the provision of such a floor so designed and supported as to facilitate its ready removal from the urinal for cleaning, the provision of a support for such floor which shall also be readily removable for cleaning, and the provision of means whereby, if desired, the urine draining from the urinal chamber can be collected over a short period, and then removed, without the necessity of removing the urinal from beneath the patient.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a urinal constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded fragmental perspective view thereof, showing many of the parts before assembly.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it

will be seen that I have illustrated a sheet ill which may preferably be made of rubber, though any other light, flexible, liquid-proof material may be used. Marginally secured to said sheet I0 is an annular, air-tight, inflatable tube ll which, when inflated, stands up above the surface of said sheet ill and, in cooperation therewith, defines a chamber l2. A filter tube l3, which is preferably valved in the fashion familiar in connection with the inner tubes of automobile tires, or the like, is provided for inflating the tube H in a well-known manner. At one point in the perimeter of the assembly ill, ii, a short rubber tube or conduit it is received between the tube II and the adjacent surface of the sheet l9, and said tube i4 is vulcanized in place when the elements ill and H are vulcanized together, so that the joint around said tube M is liquid-tight. Preferably, the mouth of the tube i4 is located, as shown, substantially at the level of sheet I0, and in the extreme perimeter of the chamber I 2, so that drainage will keep the chamber l2 substantially empty under normal conditions.

Removably connected to the free end of the tube M is the inlet port of a collecting chamber It, for a purpose later to be set forth. The chamber It may preferably be a rubber bag with hard rubber, plastic, or metal inlet and outlet couplings, though it may be of any other desirable construction, so long as it is readily disconnectible from the conduit M. A drainage tube ii is connected to the outlet of the chamber 46.

Upon the floor of the chamber i2 is provided a series of stirrups it. As shown, the stirrups are made of rubber, with their feet vulcanized to the sheet l0, and they are arranged to define a continuous curve open at one end; but their arrangement and character are of minor importance. Their function is to position and retain a support for a false floor for the chamber l2. As shown, such support comprises a single length of rubber tubing H) which may be threaded through the entire series of stirrups in the manner illustrated; but obviously, any sort of material, relatively resistant to the effect of urine and capable of being readily cleaned, could be used in place of rubber tubing; and, as obviously, with a different arrangement of the stirrups, a series of pieces of relatively inflexible material could be substituted for the flexible tubing.

A false floor 20 is removably supported and suitably retained in place on the support l9, said floor being so constructed as to permit liquid flow therepast onto the sheet It and so out through the conduit M. I prefer to use a sheet of Plexiglas, or some similar light, relatively infrangible,

transparent material, for obvious reasons. In its preferred form, the false floor 26 is provided, along one edge, with a pair of notches 2i and 22 and a second pair of notches 23 and 2 4; and along its opposite edge with a pair of notches 25 and 26 and a second pair of notches 21 and 28. Preferably, the notches along one side of the sheet 29 will be aligned with corresponding notches along the other side thereof; and said pairs of notches define fingers 29, 3t, 3 l, and 32, as shown.

Threaded beneath the tubing L), I show, in Fig. 4, two rubber bands 33 and 34. When the floor 2B is positioned upon the support l9, one end of the elastic band 33 may be hooked over the finger 29 while its other end may be hooked over the finger 3i; and one end of the band 34 may be hooked Over the finger 39 while its other end may be hooked over the finger 32, whereby the floor member 28 will be resiliently held in place on said support it.

Alternatively, the tubing I?) may be threaded through four separate elastic bands, so that one run of'each band will be located beneath said tubing l9, while the other run of each band may overlie the floor 20, being received in one of the notch pairs 21-25, 22-46, 23-21, or 24-28.

It will be seen that a male patient may lie prone upon the cushioning tube H in reasonable comfort, that liquid will drain from the chamber l2 fast enough at all times to prevent the liquid level from rising in said chamber above the false floor 20, and that the patients urino-genital parts will be supported upon said floor, and therefore kept dry. Ordinarily, drainage will be through the conduit 14 to and through the chamber I8, and thence through the tube [1 to a suitable receptacle on the floor alongside the bed. If, for any reason, such drainage to an extraneous receptacle is not feasible, the tube i! may be closed, whereupon urine will collect in the chamber l6. Periodically, an attendant will then close the clamp I5, remove the chamber H3, and empty it. While the attendant is gone, urine will collect in the chamber 12, but if a the attendant returns in a reasonable time and reconnects the chamber 56 and releases the clamp IS, the level of liquid in the chamber [2 will never rise above the false floor 20.

As has been said, previously-known bed urinals frequently fail to drain because the urinal seeks, or sometimes creates, a depression in the mattress, so that the floor of the urinal chamber is disposed in a level below that ofthe edge of the mattress over which the drainage tube must pass. To obviate that condition, I provide the structure now to bedescribed.

At diametrically opposite points on the under surface of the assembly I --Il, I vulcanize in place two segmental rubber sheets 35 and 36, leaving their mutually facing edges free to provide inwardly-facing pockets. Preferably, I also secure to said under surface one or more straps 31 and 38, running substantially parallel with the facing edges of the sheets 35 and 36, and having their opposite ends vulcanized to said under surface of the assembly 18-! I, and their mid-portions free. I provide a base 39 of plywood, light metal, or other suitable relatively rigid material, substantially coextensive with the sheet 10, and so designed that it may be intro.- duced between the straps 31 and 38 and the sheet ID, with diametrically opposite portions of its margin received and supported in the pockets defined by the sheets 35 and 36.

This arrangement not only provide a rigid foundation of relatively large area which will not tend to sink into any depression ordinarily found in a mattress, but also provides a rigid support for the flexible sheet It), thus guarding against the formation of low-level pockets in said sheet I!) which would otherwise collect small pools of urine and hold the same against drainage.

If desired, the base 39 may be formed, at diametrically spaced points near its rim, with slots 40 and 4|, through which may be threaded straps 42 and 43. Said straps may now be formed into loops to act as handles for the assembly; and it will be clear that they may be turned outwardly (see handle 43 in Fig. 2) so that they may be readily grasped, or inwardly into the region Within the boundaries of the base 39 (see the handle 42 in Fig. 2) to facilitate assembly of said base with the urinal, or removal of said base therefrom.

I claim as my invention:

1. A urinal comprising a flexible, liquid-proof bottom having secured thereto an inflatable marginal wall member definin with said bottom a chamber, means for continuously draining said chamber, a rimless false floor member having a perimetral dimension substantially less than that of said wall, and means for supporting said false floor member removably above the level of said draining means and in spaced relation to said wall.

2. A urinal comprising a sheet of flexible, liquid-proof material, an inflatable wall member marginally secured to said sheet and, when inflated, upstanding from said sheet to define therewith a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, and a rimless false floor member removably supported above said sheet level and spaced from said wall to permit liquid flow therepast to said sheet level.

3. A urinal comprising a sheet of flexible, liquid proof material, an inflatable wall member marginally secured to said sheet and, when inflated, upstanding from said sheet to define therewith a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, a relatively inflexible bottom member substantially coextensive with said sheet, and a pair of diametrically opposed, inwardly-facing pockets associated with the lower surface of said sheet, said bottom member being positionable in supporting relation with said sheet with opposed portions of its perimeter received and supported in said pockets.

4. A urinal comprising a sheet of flexible, liquid-proof material, a cushioning wall member marginally secured to said sheet and upstanding from said sheet to define therewith a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, a relatively inflexible bottom member substantially coextensive with said sheet, a pair of diametrically opposed, inwardly-facing pockets associated with the lower surface of said sheet, and strap means extending from edge to edge of said sheet in substantial parallelism with the open mouths of said pockets, said bottom member being positionable between said sheet and said strap means with opposed positions of its margin received and supported in said pockets.

5. A urinal comprising a sheet of flexible, liquid-proof material, a cushioning wall member marginally secured to said sheet and upstanding from said sheet to define therewith a chamber,

is conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, a relatively inflexible bottom member substantially coextensive with said sheet, a pair of diametrically opposed, inwardly-facing pockets associated with the lower surface of said sheet, and strap means extending from edge to edge of said sheet in substantial parallelism with the open mouths of said pockets, said bottom member being positionable between said. sheet and said strap means with opposed portions of its margin received and supported in said pockets, and said bottom member further being provided, at opposed points on its margin spaced from the portions received in said pockets, with a pair of handles movable into and out of positions located within the marginal boundaries of said bottom member.

6. A urinal comprising a rubber sheet, a cushioning wall member marginally vulcanized to said sheet and upstanding therefrom to define therewith a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, a narrow flexible, liquidresistant element arranged in a curve, means removably securing said element in place on said sheet Within said chamber, a piece of readilycleanable, liquid-resistant material supported on said element and spaced thereby above the level at which said conduit means opens into said chamber, and means removably securing said piece of material in place on said element, said piece of material being shaped to permit liquid flow therepast.

'7. A urinal comprising a rubber sheet, a cushioning wall member marginally vulcanized to said sheet and upstanding therefrom to define therewith a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, a plurality of rubber stirrups vulcanized to said sheet within said chamber and upstanding therefrom, means threadable through said stirrups and providing a support, a rimless piece of readily-cleanable, liquid-resistant material disposable on said support and held thereby above the level at which said conduit means opens into said chamber, and means removably securing said piece of material in place on said support, said piece of material being shaped to permit liquid flow therepast.

8. A urinal comprising a rubber sheet, a cushioning wall member marginally vulcanized to said sheet and upstanding therefrom to define there with a chamber, conduit means leading from said chamber and opening thereinto substantially at the level of said sheet, liquid-resistant means removably secured to said sheet within said chamber and providing a support, a piece of readily-cleanable, liquid-resistant material disposable on said support and held thereby above the level at which said conduit means opens into said chamber, and means removably securing said piece of material in place on said support, said piece of material being shaped to permit liquid flow therepast.

OWEN W. MASON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 77,937 Welling May 12, 1868 399,508 Eggers Mar. 12, 1889 1,981,666 Ridley Nov. 20, 1934 2,246,205 Gray June '7, 1941 

